As International Women's Day arrives, Clare Barker, general manager at Entoura, highlights the achievements of female leaders across Australia's medicinal cannabis sector while calling attention to the need for better advancement opportunities and boardroom representation.
International Women's Day provides a fitting occasion to acknowledge the Australian medicinal cannabis sector. While I have previously noted that highlighting 'Women in Cannabis' without equivalent recognition of men in the space can ring hollow, today I stand proud as a female executive overseeing a medicinal cannabis business in Australia.
When I joined the sector in 2017, I was immediately struck by how many female leaders the nascent industry already contained. The sector was equally notable for its female advocates, including both high-profile figures like Lucy Haslam working with United in Compassion to influence government policy, as well as those working behind the scenes such as Carol Ireland at Epilepsy Action Australia, where they shaped processes and outcomes that benefit patients.
Women's presence extends beyond management roles across the entire sector. They work in cultivation and research, business development and quality assurance, education and supply chains, manufacturing and marketing, medical affairs, and as healthcare practitioners, prescribers and dispensing professionals. These individuals are actively constructing the industry's foundation, advancing their own careers and organisations, and directly contributing to enhanced outcomes for patients.
Some attribute women's participation in the industry to inherent nurturing qualities. Such observations overlook men's equal capacity for compassion while, more critically, they reduce these women to emotional attributes rather than recognising their intellectual acuity, strategic thinking, business expertise, adaptability, grit, strength, and practical problem-solving capabilities.
Operating within an industry during its formation offers distinct advantages. I rapidly discovered that the sector's success required participants to align around shared objectives. The aspiration to provide patients access to transformative treatment made an ideal unifying mission.
Over the past five years, the sector has expanded substantially and continues to do so. Yet as expansion accelerates, the industry is significantly lagging in board-level female representation.
In December 2021, the Australian Institute of Company Directors reported that every ASX200 organisation included at least one woman director, with female directors comprising 36.3% of all board roles.
In examining 16 ASX-listed medicinal cannabis firms, I identified that six had no female board members whatsoever, with women occupying merely 14.4% of the 83 total board seats. While not exhaustive, this analysis reflects the broader pattern.
Ecofibre deserves recognition for having three female directors among its seven board members, according to asx.com.au, positioning it ahead of the ASX200 standard.
I cross-referenced this pattern by examining leadership at medicinal cannabis suppliers nationwide and found that seven of 32 are headed by women. Notably, four of these individuals occupied such roles in 2018 — Fleta Solomon (Little Green Pharma), Jo Patterson (Bod), Elisabetta Faenza (LeafCann) and myself.
By contrast, among suppliers that have launched operations in Australia recently, just three are under female leadership — Phoebe Macleod (Heyday Medical), Katy Williams Day (Tikun Australia), and Amelia Gartner (Greenfield MC).
These numbers are incomplete (and corrections are welcome), though the overall direction is clear.
Despite the sobering statistics, there are encouraging developments to recognise.
Female leaders operate retail cannabis outlets (Lisa Nguyen, Angelica Rostov and Sharon Miller) and professional advisory firms (Patty Holmes and Fiona Wilson, Jodie Fergusson-Batte and Amelia Dickinson), drive reform movements (Bee Mohamed, Drive Change) and hold influential positions within industry bodies (Rosemary Richards and Gail Wiseman at MCIA and AMCA respectively).
Many other female professionals are making significant contributions across the Australian sector, and I regret not having named each of them.
Although upper-level representation requires substantial improvement, today is an occasion to honour the accomplishments of female professionals throughout the sector. I am honoured to participate in the ongoing work to expand patient access to quality medicines.
